The Meltdown: Movie marketing looks for innovative ways as purse strings tighten
Aamir Khan-starrer ‘Ghajini’ is set to end the year with a bang. The movie has been in the spotlight of late due to its innovative and heightened marketing burst. However, another superstar starrer, ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, saw a relatively low key launch. With budgets being curtailed across the industry, movie marketing, too, has taken a hit. But this has also led to movie makers becoming innovative in their promotion efforts.
Aamir Khan-starrer ‘Ghajini’ is set to end the year with a bang. The movie has been in the spotlight of late due to its innovative and heightened marketing burst. However, another superstar starrer, ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, saw a relatively low key launch. With budgets being curtailed across the industry, movie marketing, too, has taken a hit. But this has also led to movie makers becoming innovative in their promotion efforts.
For long movies have been largely funded by money raised from various sources, with banks being reluctant to fund movies, given the unpredictable nature of the movie making business, where a return on investment is not guaranteed. There have also been more than whispers of underworld money being pumped into films.
But with movie production houses becoming more professionally organised and run, several corporates have jumped into the movie funding business. According to industry estimates, nearly 90 per cent of movie marketing is being funded by corporates these days.
There have also been several foreign collaborations and co-productions in recent times. Several film production, distribution and exhibition companies are listed on stock exchanges in India and even abroad, thus becoming 360-degree media and entertainment companies, offering satellite broadcasting, Internet content, movie production, FM radio, distribution, multiplexes and so on.
This apart, quite a few small budget offbeat movies like ‘Aamir, ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Bheja Fry’, Khosla Ka Ghosla’, ‘Mithiya’ – all innovatively packaged and marketed – have drawn audiences into cinema halls, especially the multiplex audience.
In fact, properly packaged movie marketing initiatives have played a big role in the success of new releases. During times of robust economic growth, corporate funding had propelled movie marketing to nearly 40 per cent of the production costs, when traditionally only 20 per cent was earmarked for same.
However, with the current economic slowdown hitting nearly all sectors of the economy, no longer are funds so easily available. There is more rationalisation of marketing budgets. Innovative, affordable, no frill mediums of marketing are being relied upon more as has been in the case of ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’.
According to Siddharth Roy Kapoor, UTV, “The recession has, in fact, rationalised movie marketing costs. Budgets have been curtailed and media costs have come down. It is a very positive trend as marketers have to do more with less in shoestring budgets. Innovative marketing is the need of the hour. We need to target audiences in a more focused manner on the ground and direct level rather than using mass media so widely. At UTV, we have always done innovative marketing like press conferences, online promotions to present our movies in a clutter breaking manner.”
His views are seconded by a senior official with TV18, who, on condition of anonymity, said that the movie industry was actually going through price correction as it was long overdue. “Cash rich companies have nothing to worry, but companies looking at raising funds are finding it difficult,” the official added.
Manish Mathur, COO, P9 Integrated, said, “The biggest challenge for the producer/ distributor is to get the audience to multiplexes. Given the tough economic times, families are thinking twice before visiting a multiplex. For example, a family of four usually has to shell out Rs 1,000 on a visit to a multiplex.”
Mathur explained, “Traditionally, movie marketing is a B2B deal between a producer and distributor, where the consumer always takes a backseat, and actually more of a Mumbai phenomenon to attract the distributor/ exhibitor. But now, due to the recession and the resultant cash crunch, mediums like online promotions, mall/ ground promotions, coffee bars, OOH, print promotion, and theatre advertising are aimed directly at the consumer. In a way, budgets have gone up due to proliferation of media. Factually speaking, due to paucity of buyers, producers are looking at new mediums to absorb maximum costs like in the case of ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye’, where the film was released on DTH in a paid preview barely two weeks after its theatre release.”
Brands have been associating with well publicised movies for greater visibility and connect. A case in point is Van Heusen, which has tied up with Aamir Khan starrer ‘Ghajini’.
Dhruv Jha, Business Head - Brand Experience, Lodestar Universal, is upbeat when he says that in recession it makes better sense to innovate and do better stuff than others and stand out. “People need to amplify their tie-ups in different media, create a buzz, as we have done for the Aamir Khan ‘Ghajini’ Van Heusen look and hairstyle with The Times of India, where they will bombard the same in their 13 editions. This is a co-beneficial tie-up that will create awareness for the Van Heusen brand. When people watch Aamir wearing Van Heusen outfits in ‘Ghajini’ they will want to wear the same. In fact, Van Heusen has launched an entire ‘Ghajini’ line, modelled on Aamir’s character in the movie. We also plan to reward our audience for watching the movie,” Jha added.
Putting things in perspective, Rajneesh Chaturvedi, National Director - India, MEC Access, said that movies were marketed either directly or through tie-ups. He felt that recession had not impacted marketing of movies per se. “There is always a certain amount of advertising that a movie does. Earlier, movies opened with 100-200 prints, now they open with 1,000 prints and costs have to be recovered in the first week itself. Earlier, media fragmentation was also less. In the current scenario, big budget movies from top production houses will not be affected, but middle rung might be. Brands may get choosy about vehicles to market themselves and hence, will choose their titles accordingly,” Chaturvedi pointed out.
In a similar vein, Manmohan Shetty, Founder Adlabs, “Essentially, everyone wants to draw out the audience to the theatres to watch movies. This is done via movie trailers on TV channels, song telecasts, teasers, etc. Marketing budgets have surely increased, but they don’t have premieres in different cities anymore, although patterns of movie marketing remain the same. Movie marketing depends on the target audience, hence the format varies. Individual films will be marketed individually.”
For the movie industry, it has been a long story of nearly nine decades. Currently, India makes about 1,000 movies a year, including Bollywood and other regional movie industries. This is 10 times of what Hollywood produces in a year. From small set-ups to corporate style structures to tie-ups and co-productions with Hollywood studios like Warner Brothers, Fox Searchlight, etc., the Indian movie industry has everything for everyone.
While piracy continues to plague the industry, affecting profitability, some production houses have taken to releasing their movies online with simultaneously with the theatre release. But that is yet to catch up in a significant way. Another option is using the DTH platform to launch the movie on a paid per view basis soon after its theatre release, as is seen in the case of ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye’. Lowering the rates of DVDs and VCDs will also see another avenue opening up for filmmkers.
With some interesting releases lined up for 2009 – ‘Chandni Chowk to China’, ‘Delhi 6’, ‘Dev D’, ‘Billo Barber’, ‘New York’ and ‘Raavan’, among others, it remains to be seen how innovative their marketing would be.
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Abby Awards: Anupama Ramaswamy, Ashish Chakravarty, Rajdeepak Das named Jury Chairs
The Abby Awards will be held on the 29th, 30th and 31st of May during Goafest 2024
Anupama Ramaswamy, Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide India, Ashish Chakravarty, Executive Director, and India Head of Creative, for McCann Worldgroup and Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer Publicis Groupe, South Asia and Chairman, Leo Burnett, South Asia, join as Jury Chair for Still Digital category, Audio category, and Film (below 1 minute) category respectively, at The Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show.
Anupama Ramaswamy, Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide India has been appointed Jury Chair of Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in the Still Digital category.
Ashish Chakravarty Executive Director, and India Head of Creative, for McCann Worldgroup
has been appointed Jury Chair of Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in Audio category.
Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer Publicis Groupe, South Asia and Chairman, Leo Burnett, South Asia has been appointed Jury Chair of Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in Film (below 1 minute)category.
“I have always believed that an award is as good as its jury. This year too, the Abby Awards powered by One Show have a stellar line up of both domestic and international luminaries as Jury Chairs, across 23 categories. Over the last 2 years the number of women jurors have been significant, and this year, with over one-thirds being women masters of their craft. To win recognition from such respected Jury Chairs is a matter of immense pride for the AdClub, the participating agencies and brands.” said Ajay Kakar, Chairperson, Awards Governing Council, Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show and Managing Committee Member, The Advertising Club.
The Abby Awards will be held on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of May during Goafest 2024.
SharePriyagold unveils new campaign featuring Kiara Advani for Snakker biscuits
The campaign aims to build a strong connection with the Gen Z audience
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Priyagold has come up with a new campaign to create curiosity around the new range of Snakker biscuits among the Gen Z audience.
“With the launch of the new biscuit, the brand innovatively coined the term ‘Snakk’ to strike a chord with the youth. Resonating with their interest, Priyagold aspires to make Snakker biscuits synonymous to snacks. The video features brand ambassador Kiara Advani to tap the interest of youngsters. The popularity of the actress, coupled with her active social media presence bodes well for establishing a strong connection with the Gen Z audience,” the company said in a release.
Through the video posted on the celebrity’s social media platform, the brand created curiosity by showcasing the actress involved in baking a cake with secret ingredients. This keeps the audience hooked by compelling them to guess the favorite snack of the actress. Ultimately, the brand launched the roll-out of a video by Kiara Advani revealing the launch of the Snakker biscuit.
For driving mileage around the campaign, the brand also roped in relatable comedy influencers to amplify awareness. In the process, humor and wittiness were infused to the campaign to foster deeper connection with the audience.
Speaking on the occasion, Mannas Agarwwal, Priyagold's Director, said, "The campaign is designed to appeal to Gen-Z audience and that is why we incorporated the term “Snakk” for Snakker Biscuit which has two meanings, one means a Snack to have when hungry and other is referred to someone who is attractive or appealing. It is very important that we do ad campaigns which appeal to the younger demographic because they are becoming our largest consumer segment.”
International travel jitters? Alia & Ranveer show the way in MakeMyTrip’s new films
The two-film campaign is conceptualized by creative agency Moonshot
MakeMyTrip has launched two new brand films featuring brand ambassadors Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh. These films showcase the simplicity and convenience of booking flights and hotels for international travel with MakeMyTrip, catering to both first-time international travellers and seasoned travellers, the company said in a release.
There is a lot to consider when choosing flights and hotels for international travel, which often leaves travellers with decision fatigue or uncertainty. Whether it is a traveller’s first international trip or yet another one, the two new brand films pick up unlikely scenarios to deliver the message of convenience.
Raj Rishi Singh, Chief Marketing Officer & Chief Business Officer - Corporate, MakeMyTrip said, “We at MakeMyTrip believe in making the world more accessible, one trip at a time. In the past few months, we have introduced a suite of tools, features and benefits, some of them industry-firsts, designed for every international traveller, be it a first-timer or a seasoned globetrotter. Our aim is to ensure that everyone can partake in these benefits, making their travel booking and post-sales experience seamless and enjoyable. Our new films highlight the value addition we bring to the table, demonstrating how MakeMyTrip can be a game-changer when it comes to international bookings.”
The first film presents Alia and Ranveer as a newlywed couple on their wedding night, still trying to find their footing with each other. The conversation veers towards both sharing their apprehensions about their “first-time”. As film unfolds, viewers find out that the ‘first-time’ in question is in fact their first time travelling internationally. As a solution, they turn to MakeMyTrip for their flight and hotel bookings, both taking on the planning/research responsibility equally and with great enthusiasm.
In the second film, viewers are drawn into the middle of a suspenseful scene – where Ranveer Singh, playing an international spy/agent, unearths the location of a most wanted person. When Alia Bhatt, his commanding officer, discloses that the mission is in London, Ranveer, with his humorous style, argues that the criminal should be let go as ‘he isn’t bad at heart’ to save himself an international trip. Alia’s character senses his apprehensions and introduces him to the MakeMyTrip international booking experience, highlighting its ease and tension-free experience.
This campaign was conceptualized by the creative agency, Moonshot and films have been written by Devaiah Bopanna, Puneet Chadha and Deep Joshi.
HUL advertising spends jump 23% in Q4FY24
The FMCG giants posted a net profit of Rs 2561 crore in Q4, a decline of 1.54%
FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2561 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, declining by 1.54% from Rs 2601 crore in the same quarter last year. The company posted net profit of Rs 2508 crore for the quarter ended December, 2023.
The company spent Rs 1616 crore on advertising and promotions in Q4FY24. The expense saw a jump of 23.26%. The company spent Rs 1311 crore on advertising in Q4FY23. For the quarter ended December 2023, the company's advertising and promotion expenses stood at Rs 1626 crore.
HUL also announced a key change in its management committee. The company appointed BP Biddappa as Executive Director, Human Resources and Chief People, Transformation and Sustainability Officer for South Asia. Biddappa will also join the HUL Board as a Whole Time Director, subject to shareholder approval. Anuradha Razdan, currently Executive Director, Human Resources, HUL and Chief HR Officer, South Asia will be appointed to a global role as Chief Reward & Organization Development Officer for Unilever from June 1, 2024.
Welcoming Biddappa back to India, Rohit Jawa, CEO and Managing Director, HUL said, “An accomplished HR leader with over three decades of experience, Biddappa comes with immense knowledge of transformation and organizational development. I am glad to welcome him to the HUL Leadership and I am confident that his able guidance and leadership will help transform the business to progress further on our future-fit agenda.”
Thanking Anuradha for her contribution to the business, Rohit said, “Anuradha is known for her ability to shape and deliver a strategic business-focused people agenda. She has played a key role in the HUL Leadership Team over the past five years. Her appointment to a senior leadership role for Unilever is yet another testimony to the powerhouse of talent we have in India.”
Can a sunset view be certified? Corona India has the answer
Conceptualized in partnership with Digitas India, part of Publicis Groupe India, the campaign enables luxury travellers to check out the sunset rating of iconic hotels
Corona India has launched a campaign to introduce its sunset view rating system for luxury hotel rooms. The system is now being piloted at a selection of luxury hotels including the CGH Brunton Boatyard, Niraamaya Surya Samudra and Brij Laxman Sagar located in Kochi, Kovalam and Pali respectively.
Corona’s unique campaign around stunning sunset views is set to capture every traveller’s heart. Conceptualized in partnership with Digitas India, part of Publicis Groupe India, the campaign enables luxury travellers to check out the sunset rating of iconic hotels across the country on CRED Escapes, a luxury travel platform for India’s 1%.
“With nearly 90% of people in cities spending their time indoors, the allure of sun tourism has been on the rise. Recognizing this trend, Corona India set out to create a unique solution—a sunset visual quality rating system akin to a Michelin Star for restaurants. This innovative approach guarantees travellers the opportunity to witness nature's wonder with certainty, transforming fleeting moments into cherished memories,” stated a press release.
“We all believe in taking a moment from our busy everyday lives to enjoy the beauty of sunsets. If a hotel room can guarantee impeccable service and a host of amenities, why can’t it promise a great sunset view? With The Corona Sunset View, we aim to forever reimagine how people experience sunsets - relaxing and unwinding with their friends and enjoying a cold Corona served with a lime,” said Vineet Sharma, Vice President Marketing & Trade Marketing, AB InBev India.
“We’ve all been to that one hotel where everything is perfect, and yet been disappointed with the sunset view after spending a considerable amount of time and money planning a holiday. The Corona Sunset View combines unique scientific data and predictive modelling to solve a real-world problem, ensuring that sunset seekers can enjoy their moments with certainty, and making Corona the reference point for the world’s most beautiful sunsets,” said Abraham Varughese, Chief Creative Officer, Digitas India.
Patanjali: A long history of controversial ads by the Baba Ramdev-owned company
The recent case is just one among many such controversial and politically incorrect ads by Patanjali
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Homegrown brand Patanjali, owned by Ramdev Baba and Acharya Balkrishna, has been rapped again by the Supreme Court for the size of its “apology” which was reportedly smaller than its contentious ads.
It all started in July 2022 when the company printed a large ad for Patanjali Wellness, disparaging Western medicine titled “Misconceptions spread by allopathy: Save yourself and the country from the misconceptions spread by pharma and medical industry.”
Attack on allopathy
In an elaborate print ad, Patanjali raised concerns about the "side effects" of allopathic drugs and claimed that its own medicines were backed with scientific research by India's sages like Charak, Sushrut, Dhanvantri and the eponymous Patanjali.
Talking about lifestyle diseases such as BP, diabetes, thyroid, eye-and-ear diseases, arthritis and other incurable diseases, the company claimed to offer "permanent relief" from the ailments.
Terming his remarks a "criminal act" under IPC section 499, in May 2022, IMA sent a Rs 1,000 crore defamation notice to Patanjali, demanding that Baba Ramdev apologise.
It filed a petition in the Supreme Court over the disparaging ad in August 2022. The first hearing on the matter happened in November 2023, when Patanjali was warned against using terms like "permanent relief" under the 1954 act to sell its products.
In January, an anonymous letter notified the Chief Justice of India about Patanjali's continued violation of its assurance to the court.
After pulling up the errant company, SC asked Patanjali to issue a printed apology, the size of which is the current bone of contention between the apex court and the company.
Patanjali has a long and chequered history of misleading ads much before the 2022 print advertisement.
Coronil ad
The Ayurvedic brand first squared off with the litigant—in February of 2021 when the coronavirus pandemic was at its zenith.
The yoga guru released a scientific research paper on the “first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19”, brand name Coronil launched by Patanjali.
The company claimed that the Coronil tablet received a certification from the Ayush Ministry as a COVID-19 treatment support as per the World Health Organization’s (WHO) certification scheme.
IMA expressed its shock over the “blatant lie of WHO certification.” WHO later clarified that it did not review the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for coronavirus.
'Fairness' cream ad
Patanjali courted controversy in January 2018 over a beauty cream ad, which listed dark complexion as a skin ailement. The company blamed the snafu on a translation issue, stating that the term Patanjali approved was "Skin Complications."
Cooking oil ad
Patanjali is perhaps the only company to invoke patriotism to sell its cooking oil brands when in August 2017, it bizarrely claimed that all profits from the products go to charity. The company urged "all patriotic Indians" to buy its cooking oil and perform their "patriotic duties."
Goafest 2024 to explore 'The Age of Adaptability'
The event is scheduled to take place from May 29-31 in Mumbai
The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club have announced that the theme for Goafest 2024 will be ‘The Age of Adaptability’.
The event, scheduled to take place from May 29-31 in Mumbai aims to highlight the resilience and innovative spirit of the advertising and marketing industries in an era defined by rapid change.
"The theme for Goafest 2024, 'The Age Of Adaptability', was chosen to reflect the current ethos of our industry. Adaptability is at the core of what we do - from adjusting to new media platforms to adopting innovative marketing strategies," said Jaideep Gandhi, Chairperson of the Goafest Organising Committee. "This festival will not only celebrate creativity but also the ability to pivot and thrive amidst challenges."
“This year, at Goafest 2024, our central theme 'The Age of Adaptability' has a chameleon as a mascot. The chameleon is a creature known for its remarkable adaptive prowess. Like the chameleon, which adjusts its colors to match its environment, our industry too must continuously evolve its strategies and creative approaches to thrive in changing landscapes. This year’s festival will celebrate and cultivate the chameleon-like ability to adapt swiftly and effectively, ensuring our practices remain on the cutting-edge of creativity and relevance. The Age Of Adaptability concept has been created and designed by the young and very talented team at Abnormal Design Studios," said Rohit Ohri, Chairperson Goafest Content Committee.